Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Well that took balls, Jimmy Connors

[Warning: this post is more crude than my usual just-plain-sarcastic language. I am not proud of this. But I'm a little enraged.]

Jimmy Connors was constantly checking in on his man-parts when he was an active professional tennis player. He touched his crotch after every point. So he clearly is well aware of the status of his balls.
And now the rest of us are as well.
In his autobiography Connors tells the world that his ex-girlfriend and former professional tennis player Chris Evert, had an abortion while they were together. And he remains upset that he was consulted about her decision to not proceed with the pregnancy because, he says, he would have been there to support the child. Very little evidence to back up that claim given that he complained about Evert's emotional neediness after bad matches.
Slate offers a very good commentary about Connor's reveal and the politics of sport, pregnancy, and patriarchy.
The whole thing is just...icky or creepy or smarmy.
Why this perverse power play four decades later? What kind of issues does this former professional athlete have with Evert, with women in general? What is this "poor me" attitude that is in evidence right on the book cover? "The Outsider"? Really? Connors clearly loved the spotlight. He stayed too long in the game making one notable run at the US Open in his latter playing years. Then he went away. And now he wants back in. But he is no less tolerable.
I hope that Tennis Channel terminates their relationship with Connors in light of this most recent bout of bad behavior.